“And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the Lord will give you, according as He hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? that ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians and delivered our houses” (Exod. 12:25-27).
The Lord’s thoughtful care for the dawning intelligence of the children in the families of His people of old is strikingly brought out in these verses. The Passover was the yearly reminder of His divine interference when their fathers were slaves in Egypt, and brought before them, year after year, the great truth of redemption by blood. It was to be expected that the younger generation, growing up, would look on with wonder, and sometimes amazement, as the various parts of the Passover ritual were carefully carried out by their elders. The question would naturally spring to young lips again and again, “What mean ye by this service?” And the parents were to answer in accordance with the testimony of the Lord. The last Passover feast that God ever recognized was that celebrated by Jesus Himself, with His disciples, in the guest-chamber at Jerusalem. The typical Passover came to an end that night, but on the same evening He instituted the great central ordinance of Christianity, the Lord’s Supper, the memorial of His mighty love and infinite sacrifice. Directions for the keeping of this feast are given clearly in the New Testament, and older believers, who have gone on in the ways that be in Christ, should always be able to give a scriptural reason for everything connected with the observance of the breaking of bread in remembrance of the Lord Jesus Christ. For now, as of old, the younger generation is still likely to ask, “What mean ye by this service?”
Children growing up in the families of believers, accustomed from early childhood to the simplicity of scriptural order, will nevertheless, when definitely converted themselves, soon begin to question either inwardly, or with the lips, the why and the wherefore for each detail which their eyes behold or their ears hear; and as babes in Christ (though older in years) are born into the family of God and brought out of the world into association with His separated people, they, just as naturally, ask the same question as the children of old, “What do you mean by these things?”
It is my desire, as simply as possible, to attempt to answer some of these questions, having in mind not well-instructed and mature saints, but the youngest of God’s children who desire to walk in obedience to His Word.
Perhaps one of the first questions that will be asked is, “Why observe this feast so frequently when, in many places in Christendom, it is but at rare intervals that what is commonly called ‘the communion’ is celebrated?” For answer we reply that Scripture gives us no distinct commandment, as in the case of the Passover, regarding the particular times the Lord’s Supper is to be observed. The Passover was to be celebrated once a year, but when the Lord instituted the Supper, He implied much more frequent observance when He said, “This cup is the new testament in my blood; this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me” (1 Cor. 11:25). It is the Lord’s desire that His people should often show His death in this way, calling to mind frequently His love and sacrifice for them. In the earliest days of the Church’s history, the Christians broke bread daily, but when the first days of transition passed and the new dispensation was fully established, we get the Scriptural example in Acts 20:7, “Upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread….”
In the apostolic days, it is well-known that this was the recognized custom. Now this is not a commandment, but it is a word from the Lord, and He has said, “If a man love Me he will keep My words” John 14:23). A devoted heart does not ask, “How seldom can I do this and yet have the Lord’s approval,” but “What does His Word show to have been the established order in early days?” The Book answers, “On the first day of the week” and also states, “As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till He come” (1 Cor. 11:26). Therefore, we delight to come together on the first day of the week to remember Him.
“But when so coming together,” the children ask, “why is there no officiating clergyman to dispense the elements and take charge of the service as generally in the denominations around us?” Our answer is that we cannot find anything like this in the Bible. There is no intimation anywhere, either in the Acts or in any of the Epistles, of any such officer in the early Church. Believers came together as brothers and sisters in Christ. The Lord Himself has said, “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:20). Faith lays hold of that and recognizes His presence. He, the Head of the assembly, is today as true to His Word as in the early days. Wherever two or three are found scripturally gathered He is in the midst to take charge by the Holy Spirit, and to lead out the hearts of His people in their remembrance of Himself. Of old, in that upper room, when the time came to break the loaf and pass the cup, His own lips pronounced the blessing and His own hands gave to His disciples. Just as He used the members of His literal body of old to bless and give the emblems, so now He uses the members of His mystical body—the Church—as it may please Him. Any brother going to the table to give thanks and to break the loaf or pass the cup, simply becomes, for the moment, as hands and lips for the blessed Lord Himself. There is no human officialism required; the simpler the better. It is Christ with whom we desire to be occupied, and He who goes to the table does so as acting under Him. If anything more were necessary, any ordination or official position, the Word of God would somewhere indicate it; but in regard to this we search its pages in vain. “One is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren” (Matt. 23:8).
“Why do you have one unbroken loaf upon the table as the feast begins, and why is it afterwards broken?” Because the one loaf pictures the precious body of our Lord Jesus Christ in its entirety, and the breaking signifies His death. Also we are told, “We being many are one bread [or literally, one loaf], and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread” (1 Cor. 10:17). To cut the bread into small pieces, as is done sometimes, is to lose sight altogether of this striking symbolism. As it is passed from one to the other, after having been blessed and broken, each again breaks for himself, thus indicating his communion with the body of Christ.
“What is in the cup, and why do all drink of it?” The cup contains the fruit of the vine. It speaks of the precious blood of Christ, the price of our redemption. “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?” (1 Cor. 10:16). Just as the rich clusters of grapes are cast into the winepress and crushed to give forth what Scripture calls the blood of the grape (Gen. 49:11; Deut. 32:14), so Christ endured the judgment of God for our sins, and, when crushed in death, His precious atoning blood flowed forth for our salvation. As we drink in solemn silence we recall, with grateful hearts, the mighty cost of our redemption.
“Why is not so sacred and precious a feast open for everyone? Why such care to see that only those who know what it is to be saved, and who are seeking to walk with God and to confess His truth, gather together about His table?” It is because He will be sanctified in them that draw nigh to Him (Lev. 10:3). This sacred observance is for those who have a common interest in the death of Christ and have been saved by His blood. In 1 Cor. 5:9-11 we are distinctly directed to walk in a path of separation from evildoers, and regarding certain ones we are told, “With such a one, no, not to eat.” This clearly includes the Lord’s Supper, and shows us the importance of care as to those received. Again in 1 Cor. 6:1-20 and 2 Cor. 6:11-18 we have impressed upon us the importance of walking apart from the world if we are to have fellowship in the things of God. And while it is true that each individual is responsible to examine himself, in the fear of the Lord, before sitting down to eat of that loaf and drink of that cup, there is also grave responsibility resting upon the assemblies of Christians to maintain a fellowship that is holy and consistent.
“Why is there no previously arranged program as to the order of this service, the hymns to be sung, the prayers to be offered, and ministry to be given out? Is not time wasted in silence which might be occupied in teaching or expounding the Scriptures?” It is important, first of all, to understand that we do not come together to pray, nor yet to minister, nor to listen to teaching or exhortation, and certainly not simply for singing hymns and enjoying one another’s fellowship. We come together to meet the Lord Himself, and to be occupied with Him, to offer Him the worship of our hearts, and to remember what He passed through for us. Let me put it this way: suppose that on a given Lord’s day morning it were known definitely that our Saviour, in Person, would be present in the meeting-room, and that all who were there from, say, 11:00 to 12:30 would have the great privilege of looking upon His face; how do you think real Christians would act on such an occasion? Would we not enter the room with a deep sense of awe pervading our spirits? Surely there would be no lightness of behavior, no frivolity, no worldly joviality manifested as we came together. Nor would we be coming to listen to someone preaching or expounding. Our one desire would be to see Him, to fix our adoring eyes upon His blessed Face, and, if we spoke at all, it would be to rehearse something of His sufferings for us, and the gratitude and worship that would fill our hearts as we recalled the agony endured on the cross, and now beheld His glorious countenance. At such a time one can well understand how all might join in a burst of melody, singing together some hymn of praise in which His wondrous Person, His past sufferings, and His present glory, were celebrated! But surely anything like mere fleshly formalism would be altogether out of place. If one ministered audibly, it would be simply to praise His name or to bring to the mind of saints some portion of the Word that would give a better understanding and apprehension of His Person or work. No one would have the effrontery to set Christ, as it were, to one side, by taking the place of a teacher of others at such a time, unless indeed directly requested by the Lord to minister.
Now, if it be borne in mind that, when we thus come together as gathered to His name, Christ is just as truly present as though our human eyes beheld Him, we will realize how we ought to behave in the house of God on such occasions. There will be room for praise and for reading a portion or portions of the Word of God that will bring more vividly before our souls the object for which we gather. But any brother would be decidedly out of place who sought to occupy us with lengthy expositions of Scripture, or exhortations as to conduct that have no bearing on the object for which we came together. The sense of awe which comes over the soul consciously in the Lord’s presence will put a check upon the flesh, and any participating, either in the giving out of a hymn or in leading the assembly in vocal thanksgiving, or reading a portion of the Word, will be very sure that it is the Holy Spirit Himself who thus guides. If there be periods of silence there will be no wasted time as we all sit gazing with rapt, adoring eyes upon Himself whom we have come to meet.
It will be readily seen also that prayer of a general character, as for the salvation of sinners, individual blessing, and temporal matters, however proper in a prayer meeting, is quite out of place while we are gathered simply to remember Him. After the partaking of the loaf and cup, the meeting may possibly take a more general character, but certainly not before.
If this one thought be clearly fixed in heart and mind, that we gather to remember Him in subjection to the Holy Spirit, all else will soon be regulated.
In closing, let me press upon all who thus come together the importance of being present on time, that there may be no distraction as the meeting goes on. A little care as to this will often go a long way towards a precious and happy meeting. On the other hand, individuals coming in late and distracting the attention of others may greatly hinder the worship of the heart. It is a pitiful commentary on the state of many believers that they can be punctual every weekday morning at their places of business or employment, and yet be among the stragglers on the first day of the week when the hour set is much later than that at which they frequently go to work. Heart for Christ is what is needed to put all right.